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Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Novel: Eva Luna by Isabel Allende; 307 pp; Cost: $7.99

Eva Luna is based on the life of the protagonist of the novel, Eva Luna. The story begins with the tale of how Eva Luna was concieved by her mother trying to save the life of a snake bitten indian. It takes place in an unnamed South American country because the characters speak Spanish. Eva's mother dies when she is only 7 years old and is forced to work as a servant in different houses. One thing she inheirited from her mother was the gift of story telling. Wherever she would go everyone loved to hear her improvised stories. At the age of 17 she worked in the house of a Turkish immigrant named Riad Halabi whom she falls in love with but he is twice her age. She is then forced to move to the city were she is reunited with her transexual friend, Mimi. At first Eva works at a military warehouse but Mimi insists that Eva make a living from her stories. After an attempted suduction by one of the military generals, Eva decides to quit her job at the warehouse and write stories for a living. Her and Mimi live successful lives without the help of men. Mimi is a well known soap opera actress and Eva writes the plots for them.
Along with the story of Eva Luna is the story of the European immigrant Rolf Carle. He comes from a broken family and migrates to the South American country and lives with his aunt and uncle in the countryside. As he gets older he decides he wants to become a journalist and soon enough he is known as one of the most prominant journalists in the country. Rolf and Eva meet and thier separate stories become one.
The important theme in this book is feminism. None of the females in this story are dependent on any man and they all seem fine without them. Some men are mentioned and come and go but the women still move on without them and live thier lives. The only sign of dependency is Zulema. Zulema becomes dependent on a man she falls in love...